Uganda - A View from the Field
Damaris Frick, a deployee with The Salvation Army's International Emergency Services, gives a personal perspective on disaster relief work in central Africa.
MY latest appointment with International Headquarters Emergency Services sees me based in northern Uganda. It is a stunningly beautiful country, lusciously green with awesome mountains and smiling people. It was once known as the 'pearl of Africa’, and deservedly so. Sadly, it has seen years of tragedies.
I guess many people reading this will have little idea of the emergency gripping this part of the world. It’s not new but after two decades it’s become one of the world’s forgotten crises.
For 20 years the people of northern Uganda have suffered severely because of the activities of a rebel ‘army’ calling itself the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Many people have had terrible experiences and fled to camps which have been their homes for several years. There are children who have never known any life outside the camps.
The background to this situation is particularly harrowing. Thousands of people were killed during the 20-year rebel activity. The LRA is also accused of abducting more than 20,000 children, although unofficial sources place this figure even higher. Around 10,000 children are still unaccounted for and 1,500 are still believed to be held by the LRA. Young boys have been forced to become soldiers and girls made to serve as so-called ‘war lord brides’.
A few months ago the situation appeared to improve. Talks between the rebels and the Government led to a period of peace. It may have been an uneasy truce but it was an improvement and gave people the confidence to try to return home.
The United Nations estimated that 230,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda returned to their villages in 2006. Despite this, up to 1.2 million more remained in camps or only moved to satellite settlements nearer their villages which provided some security while allowing them to start cultivating their farms.
During the past four years The Salvation Army has undertaken several projects in 26 IDP camps. These focused mainly on early childhood development centres, primary schools and a vocational training centre. The focus now is moving to the villages to which the people are returning.
At the end of February 2007 we heard some bad news. The temporary ceasefire agreement had broken down. The official peace talks haven’t succeeded yet. Even if the process of return for the IDPs continues, this setback will surely slow down the process.
My present role takes me into the camps every day. In one camp I met Alaba Molly, a 38-year-old mother of six. She told me about the day in June 2003 when the rebel soldiers came to her village. They arrived very early in the morning. Most of the people of the village fled but 11 were killed and 21 children were abducted. Of these, only five have been returned. The parents of the others have no idea whether their children are alive, let alone where they are.
People like Molly in rural areas of Uganda live in isolation. Families have a few small huts surrounded by agricultural land and bush, and neighbours live out of sight. In the event of a rebel attack people have little chance of help. Fearing the LRA attacks they have moved from the villages to bigger trading centres. For a long period of time several thousand people lived cramped into small areas. Government soldiers guarded these camps and various organisations provided support.
Molly and others from her village moved to the trading centre in Apalla, which is 2.5 kilometres from their homes, and built huts there. For more than three years they lived there. Her family is moving back now but they have to rebuild first – the huts that were once their homes have been burned by the rebels.
During the many hours I spent travelling to the different camps our driver and translator Jasper told me how he too was once captured by the LRA. He eventually managed to run away but during the few weeks he was held captive in the bush he witnessed terrible things that he feels have changed him forever.
Other kidnapped children and adolescents were forced to use sticks and strike to death those who couldn’t walk any more. It was not uncommon to force a child to kill a family member or friend to bind it to the group. Jasper told me about parents who had to choose which of their three children they wanted to keep. The LRA not only took the two children but also killed the third in front of his parents.
Wherever you go in the northern part of this beautiful country you hear stories like these. It is heartbreaking.
Having experienced tragedy like this one could expect families to be bitter. Amazingly, this is not what I have seen as I visit the camps. I’ve met many wonderfully friendly and joyful people. You see them building their houses and huts next to the ones that have been burnt down by the LRA, smiling and waving to us as we pass by.
I believe we can learn a lot from their unshakeable hope and faith.
Salvation Army International Emergency Services teams are assisting the Army's Uganda Command in developing programmes to support families that are returning to their villages. Donations to help this work can be made to the Africa Disaster Fund.